Written by John Culea
I was the Media and Communications Director for Fifth District County Supervisor Bill Horn for 10 years. Each year, he delivered his State of North County Address. We rotated the event at venues throughout the Fifth District and in 2009, our Chief of Staff Joan Wonsley invited then-Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher to be our master of ceremonies in Rancho Santa Fe. He was terrific.
I thought to myself how fortunate his staff was to be associated with such a bright, enthusiastic, and articulate young man. There were unlimited opportunities for a guy who was clearly a rising star in the Republican Party. Congressman, Governor, U.S. Senator, who knows, maybe even President.
Fletcher was a combat Marine Corps Sergeant who did two tours of duty in Iraq, the Near East, and the Horn of Africa. He was a family man with a beautiful wife and two adopted young children. And later he was connected with impressive legislation including authoring Chelsea’s Law, which increased penalties for violent crimes against children. In 2010, Fletcher was re-elected with 60.5% of the vote.
Things began to go pear-shaped for Fletcher in 2012, when he was termed out as an assemblyman and ran for San Diego Mayor. He started the race as a registered Republican. But when the Republican Party of San Diego County chose to endorse his opponent, Carl DeMaio, Fletcher in a snit announced he was leaving the GOP and becoming an Independent. In restrospect, the local party knew that Fletcher was only skin deep. On election night, he came in a weak third.
Fletcher turned himself completely inside out in 2013 when he joined the Democratic Party and ran for mayor again. He never made it out of the primary and endorsed David Alvarez, who lost to the Republican candidate, Kevin Faulconer.
Fletcher then linked up with Irwin Jacobs at Qualcomm and was given two fancy-sounding titles doing work that was never quite clear. He quit Qualcomm in 2017, saying he wanted to spend more time teaching at UC San Diego and focusing on community issues. He also did commentaries for Fox 5 in San Diego and wrote for San Diego Magazine.
Fletcher’s once storybook marriage to Mindy Tucker, who was deputy chief of staff for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, fell apart and they divorced in 2015. Two years later, Fletcher married his longtime girlfriend Lorena Gonzalez, who represents California’s 80th Assembly District. Gonzalez, who’s about as far left as it’s possible to go, is the author of the catastrophic AB 5 that is destroying thousands of jobs in California by taking away the freedom of independent contractors. Her money ties and political clout helped Fletcher be elected as Fourth District County Supervisor.
Now, 12 years after he was first elected to the Assembly, it’s hard to believe what Nathan Fletcher has become. The once rising star has become a series of land mines going off on a regular basis as District 4 Supervisor.
Beware of Fletcher, who is infecting the Board of Supervisors with his radical ideas. Depending on the outcome in the race for Supervisor in Districts 1, 2, and 3, the Board is on the verge of possibly going to a 3-2 majority in Fletcher and the Democrat’s favor.
Voters in San Diego County have serious decisions to make in the March primary election. The menu for Democratic candidates in Districts 1, 2, and 3 offer Nathan Fletcher more allies in his quest to reverse conservative governing. Castellanos, Hueso, Vargas, and Rodriguez are Fletcher’s kind of people in District 1. Kenya Taylor would be an ally in District 2, while Diaz and Lawson-Remer would spell disaster in District 3. That Olga Diaz is endorsed by the liberal San Diego Union-Tribune tells you all you need to know about her. And Lawson-Remer shows herself a Democrat on campaign signs for an office that is officially non-partisan.
The Republican Party of San Diego County has officially endorsed Alex Galicia in District 1, Joel Anderson in District 2, and incumbent Supervisor Kristin Gaspar in District 3. Gaspar is the hope to remain and work in conservative partnership with District 5 Supervisor Jim Desmond.
Nathan Fletcher is doing what Nathan Fletcher has always done—and that is to do what’s best for Nathan Fletcher. He loves big government and unions. To elect like-minded people in March and then in November to the Board of Supervisors would be a tragedy.
“Nate the Great” is really “Nate the Grate.”
